Set up a Kubernetes cluster

KubeNDT runs on top of your own Kubernetes cluster: the backend reads the kubeconfig mounted from the host, so the active kubectl context is the cluster KubeNDT will manage. This page summarizes how to prepare a suitable cluster. For the full step-by-step procedure see the Cluster Bootstrap Guide in the KubeNDT repository.

Requirements

• Linux host (or Linux VMs for kubeadm).
• Kubernetes 1.20+ with kubectl configured and working.
• Docker and Docker Compose (to run the KubeNDT services).
• Git (to clone the Meshnet CNI).
• Recommended lab resources: 4 vCPU, 8 GB RAM.

Choose a scenario

The guide covers three setups; pick the one that matches your needs:

Scenario	Tool	Best for
Single-node lab	Minikube	Quick functional validation
Two-node local cluster	kind	Reproducible multi-node testing
Two-node production-style	kubeadm	Closer-to-production deployments

Example: single-node with Minikube

minikube start --driver=docker --cpus=4 --memory=8192 --disk-size=30g \
  --extra-config=kubelet.allowed-unsafe-sysctls="net.ipv4.ip_forward,net.ipv6.conf.all.forwarding"
kubectl config current-context
kubectl get nodes -o wide

Why the allowed-unsafe-sysctls flag?

Some KubeNDT node types (Linux switches, OVS nodes) set net.ipv4.ip_forward and net.ipv6.conf.all.forwarding via pod sysctls. Without this flag the kubelet rejects those pods with SysctlForbidden.

Install the Meshnet CNI (required)

KubeNDT uses the Meshnet CNI for the L2/L3 overlays between nodes. The same installation works for every scenario:

git clone https://github.com/networkop/meshnet-cni.git
cd meshnet-cni/
kubectl apply -k manifests/base

Meshnet really is required

KubeNDT checks the Meshnet DaemonSet and shows its health in the dashboard. If the dataplane is missing, deploying or modifying a topology fails with 412 Precondition Failed rather than creating pods that never get wired. See the Meshnet dependency.

Validate the cluster

Run these checks after creating the cluster and installing Meshnet:

kubectl get nodes -o wide
kubectl get pods -A
kubectl get ds -A | grep -i meshnet
kubectl get crd | grep -E 'topologies.networkop.co.uk|network-attachment-definitions.k8s.cni.cncf.io'
kubectl api-resources | grep -i topology

You are ready when:

• All nodes are Ready.
• The Meshnet workloads are running.
• The topology CRD is registered and discoverable.

Once the cluster is ready, continue with Getting started to run KubeNDT and deploy your first topology.